Emily Bissel Laird - Making Art reminds me to live deeply. To be alive in the present moment. Teaching Art is teaching about life...balance, harmony, risk, challenge, communication and finding creative solutions to whatever we are faced with in the world today.

William Wolff - I have worked as a paper engineer for the past 14 years in VT. Paper engineers make the pop-up books we enjoy as kids and adults. The art of paper engineering is unique, and there are few practitioners. This art form has supported me and my family throughout my career both in publishing and through high-end marketing campaigns for major advertisers. If you can imagine it, I can make it come to life in paper!

Dena Moses - I am blessed to make my living as an artist and an art teacher.  I am a weaver and teach weaving at a school I created, The Vermont Weaving School.  I have wonderful students and strive to use weaving as a way to teach them about how strong and competent they are and how they are capable of creating beauty, even if they never believed they could.  Because of the linear nature of weaving and the math involved, it is emotionally accessible to people who feel they are not "artistic".  I am able to reach across and teach people who never believed they could make something beautiful that they can....and I am blessed to be able to create beauty myself, through my own weaving.

Amanda Swehla - Art supports me on so many levels, more than I could have imagined.  Art supports my mind set,creativity, passion and love for all things.  I recently made a transition to focus on my art full time so now it supports me financially, however that has been the least impactful of the experience my life has changed for the better!  Because of that I am a better person.

Melissa Kristiansen - I share my passion for art everyday with my students. They want more art and spend their morning time, snack time, and afterschool time in the art room. Over this past spring break I spent my time creating at school and opened it up to students who came to also create art. My students creativity feeds my artistic spirit as much as my passion for art fills my students.

Cindi Oldham - Art supports me because when I'm painting it quiets my mind.

Carol Langstaff - I’ve been an artist all my talking life.  Art has never supported me monetarily.  However my creative spirit has never waned.  If it was against the law to do my art, I would.  It is the work of other artists that help inspire me and drive me forward. Artists are the scribes of our times.  If your work is relevant and fulfills a need (like when I started Revels), then it indeed finds ways for financial support from the community it serves.

Doug Safford - It allows our students to free themselves and let out all the emotions, joy, love, fears, faith, demons and hope that is within all of us.

Doug & Cheri Safford - Frees the creative spirit inside the soul- there are no mistakes or errors- it is all perfect and beautiful to someone's spirit.

Sandy Gartner - Vermont is a haven for both the artist and the audience. How lucky we are to live and work in a creative and supportive environment.

Athena Kafantaris - Art supports me in more ways than I can say. I earn some money as an artist but the primary benefit is that art promotes a rich interior life for me. I've drawn courage and energy from the creative process for most of my life. I feel quite lucky to be surrounded by art and to have seen the work of so many different people. Art is my religion.

Robin Kent - Art supports me- mind, body and spirit.  That's a good thing since I'm a professional artist. It buoys me up and keeps me interested. It gives me a project to work on everyday and lets me feel satisfied when finished.  It's a good friend, close confidant, and has a sense of humor.

Nichole Cunningham - Art has supported me since the day I knew what art was. My creative drive started at a young age from the days of coloring with my dad. I remember choosing only the art related projects in my Girl Scout project book which helped me earn badges. I still have the Polaroid picture of me standing in front of my elementary schools 'Artist of the Week' board, proudly displaying my drawings. My first entrepreneurial venture was at the age of 8 when I decided to make hair 'scrunchies' out of different patterned fabric and sell them to all my girlfriends. That one didn't last long. My mother taught me how to knit at the age of 8 and then introduced me to pottery at 12. My passion for pottery exploded from there. I continued joining my mother and women of her age on a weekly basis, painting pottery in a local business woman's basement. I took this passion to a store front paint your own pottery studio in downtown Burlington where I worked for three years and loved every minute of it. After having my second child I knew the time was right to dive into my love for pottery once again. Upon opening the first box of pottery I ordered for my new business, Let's Paint!, I was overjoyed with the fact that the passion I've had for so many years was finally taking me to the next level; owning my own mobile paint your own pottery studio. Once again I'll be able to host pottery painting parties of all types and see the creative twinkle in the eyes of my customers. I hope to pass on the passion I have for pottery painting to many generations to come.

Dona Friedman - Art is the continuing thread, it weaves it's way. Beginning as a youngster I saw how my search for order was an individual vision. When I told my dad I wanted to be an artistl he said "But how will you make a living ?" I didn't know the answer however my vision led me and continues to take me to new creative endeavors. Being an artist is an exciting, unpredictable, often misunderstood way of life. How else would you want to live?

Eva Zimet - Let's do creativity as a state.  Creativity is more than a product, more than a process, even.  As a state, creativity heals.  We can, for instance, find possibilities in impossible situations, nurture relationships into functional shape, laugh and love and elevate each other in a state of creativity.  How bad could that be?

David Tribble (via Facebook) - Art does in fact support me...and in return I support Art back. I'm trying to venture out into the business side and try and make it my entire living. But even with out a financial support of it, if/when times are bad and all else is crashing around, I can lose myself in my work. It crumbles all those negative walls that get erected from time to time. It's never stagnant, it's never ashamed to claim me, and it's always willing to teach me something. As frustrating as it is from time to time when what's in my head fails to immediately translate to the physical world, the road traveled to get there is always exciting and ever gratifying.

Huestis Reanna (via Facebook) - Art is my passion it gives me a reason to live -without art I would truly be empty-I draw, I color, I write really good poetry-that is why i am known as "The Dabbler"

Helen Owens (via Facebook) - art is my life.

David I. Batres (via Facebook) - my art isn't my passion, my art isn't my work... my art it's my BFF he always cheer me up to do better things, he always lisent to me when i need to talk, he always support me when i want to cry, he always tell me a reason to live, he always say me that i'm the best... for that and more reason I JUST LOVE MY ART. i'm neakster graphic designer and visual artist in training, and I WILL SUCESS. thankyou

Anthony Rivera (via Facebook) - art supports me man. i am going to be a famous musician. i don't think about it at all because I know the art world will support me. i am only 14 years old and im down at the park playing music, earning money, and getting my name out there. i know where im headed and its all thanks to art.

Caitlin Janelle Christen (via Facebook) - Art is what makes the world go round. Without it, you wouldn't be able to see past the money and buisness.

Norm Coleman (via Facebook) = Yes it does. I am a storyteller, actor, baseball player on stage. Perform my one-man show around the country. This week I am in Jackson, Miss. Art supports me...and I will do my best to support you.

Joshua Wiley (via Facebook) - Art replenishes the soul and keeps it at rest whilst you endure yet another day of strenuous enigmatic commotion.

Margaret Miller Silvia (via Facebook) - Art is the individual expression of spirit. Creativity nourishes the soul. Using my hands to make stuff and feel textures, my eyes to blend colors, my mind to design pieces; my heart is healed. I wish that for everyone: healing and wholeness. Art supports me!

Thomas Brown - I have been a picture framer for over 40 years.  My specialty is with multiple mats on antique prints.  Framing is my passion.  There is always work iven in a slow economy.  Neatstuff-nuffsed.

Maurie Harrington - Art supports me through teaching and selling my paintings.  Recently, I have enjoyed painting large murals which are a challenge.  It is gratifying to see them in restaurants, cafes, homes, gift shops, Inns, knowing that they are being viewed by many people.  I love to travel and it is through the sales of my art that I am able to continue exploring new and exotic places. Art is a never ending adventure.

Stuart Carter - I am a private music teacher, helping others learn how music benefits us in a variety of healthy ways. Instead of using drugs, music creates healthy pleasure chemicals in the brain,  it helps us develop transferable skills.  I sell graphics that encourage the healthy benefits of making music.

Dylan Kelley - As a student, the fact is undeniable that art has supported me throughout my educational experience both in and out of the classroom.  Currently attending Burlington College as a double major in Photography and Documentary Studies, I've made it my goal to not only be a great artist but also to empower those around me to believe in their own brilliant capacity for creativity.  In such efforts, I've worked to establish arts driven initiatives such a magazine, a low power FM radio station, and a annual multi-media art show that is propelled by the interconnectivity of ideas and perspectives concerning art and humanity.  Art supports me!  I can't think of any other way to live.

Destiny Toler (via Facebook): art suports design which suports inventions which suport daily living. art suports life

Melody Pierson (via Facebook): Art supports me spiritually, mentally and is food for my soul. I have sold art for money, but these other bonuses far outweigh the money.

Anne Bevan (via Facebook): How does art support me? .... where do I start! Do you know what a life affirming joy it is to wake up every morning knowing art will fill your day?

Yazmin Reyna (via Facebook): in art you can never go wrong and it lets you extend your wings as far as anyone can go without a fear

Yamile Garcia (via Facebook): my dearly friend once said: "Earth without art is just 'eh'" n its so very true ^-^

Monica Adrian Art (via Facebook): Art supports me!!! It gives me an identiy. I am an artist whose income is being derived solely from art. I want to spread my art to the world.

Connor Ferguson (via Facebook): art supports me because it let's me express myself through writing, drawing, and music. Without these outlets, our emotions would stay locked up.

Marie Minnich (via Facebook): As a practicing interior designer and published author of a design book, art supports me. Aesthetics are everything....

Jon Kostiner (via Facebook): We've restored Japanese paintings on byobu (folding screens) and kakejiku (hanging scrolls) in Honolulu since 1965. Art supports us.

Gölök Zoltán Buday (via Facebook): Art was what I was raised with, that and books.

Tiffany LaBarre (via Facebook): When i was in 5th grade i CONSTANTLY doodled on all of my work, later on in the year ive noticed tht peple have been noticeing what and how i was drawing and then i realized i want to make art a carreer. Almost a freshman, over the course of three years, ive won two major city awards, and accomplished selling my art.
ART = LIFE AND SUPPORT

Serena Kovalosky (via Facebook): Art definitely supports me. And my clients buy my work not just "for art's sake" or "to support the arts", but because they appreciate what my work gives them in return every time they see it in their home or workspace.

Miranda Thomas: We founded ShackletonThomas to promote the art of making things by hand.  We believe that the passion, care, and personality provided by the human hand instill objects with soul and life.  In an age of mechanization, art supports us - our lives and our work, our marriage, and the dream that handmade furniture and pottery can actually connect us - to our home, to our family, to our heritage, to the natural world, and to generations to come.

Charles Shackleton: I grew up with a passion of making things by hand.  Making furniture, and growing a business in the arts, has become my whole livelihood.  At ShackletonThomas, we believe in the art of making pieces by hand, infusing objects with the soul and life of their maker.  In an age of mechanization, art supports me, and reminds us to connect - to our communities, to our home and family, to the traditions of our histories, and to the natural world around us.

Sarah Molino: Art has always supported me in many aspects of my life. In a family of artistic people, I began drawing in my high chair when I was only one year old. It was the only thing I really enjoyed and looked forward to in school. I spent countless hours at craft shows and in my father's artisan jewelry store. I look for creative and artistic expressions everywhere I go to uplift me and at the same time ground me. Art changes the experience of each moment into something more meaningful. I am working hard to fill my surroundings with art and would love if it supported me financially, but I will do the best I can with the time that I have because I can't imagine a life without art.

Sue Batton Leonard (via Facebook): Art Supports me, and I support the Arts. My company specializes in e-commerce and e-marketing for independent publishers. Our clients include Artists, filmmakers, non-profit organizations and others who have chosen a path of fulfilling their lives by combining business and the arts.

Tim Tavcar (via Facebook): A Creation Grant Grant from the VAC helped me to support my Chamber Music/Theater effort called WordStage. Though now a resident of Cleveland, OH, I will be returning to Vermont this Spring and, while there, will be presenting several more WordStage performances at the T.W. Wood Gallery & Arts Center in Montpelier. ...And I am busy gearing up for the first Cleveland season of WordStage for Fall 2011. None of this would have been posssible without the VAC and the participation of so many talented Vermont performing artists. Thank you!

Mary C. Gagnon (via Facebook): We own a small 'mom and pop' video/music store. We rent/sell videos, musical consumables (like guitars strings, picks, capos, etc.) and CDs (particularly those of local artists). We also do PA system rentals and (occasionally) DJ Jobs for parties, weddings, etc. NONE OF THESE ITEMS OR SERVICES WOULD EXIST WITHOUT THE A...RTS!!! We are very thankful for ALL the wonderful artists out there who make our living possible. 

Also, our son is a musician/composer/band-leader who is going to college to become a music teacher -- he is supporting the arts AND the arts are supporting him!

Patty Sgrecci - I create kinetic sculptures and mobiles that sooth the soul with their slow revolutions.  I am grateful that I have this avenue of expression and sharing it with others supports me.

Cecile Johnston - Art makes life beautiful; it expresses the deepest experiences of the human soul, it gives unique life to the mundane. It is everywhere we look, and on a very pragmatic level art employs millions and millions of people. I am so very grateful for art and the people who are artists! (The painting [thumbnail] is by my mom, Janet Sawyer, who inspired my love of art.)

Amber Alexander - Art inspires me, fulfills me, and supports me financially. Art also allows me to express my love of animals, nature, and our earth. I recently had a children's book published with a Vermont Publishing Company, Radiant Hen Publishing (See Tanya Sousa above):)! Everything is coming up roses in my art world.

Dona M Greenwald Schlussel (via Facebook) - Art supports me by making sense in a world of chaos. As I see the many expressions that are made by artists of various media, I am thrilled once again at the greatness of human beings.

Mina Isham (via Facebook) - If Art includes books, movies, & music it has saved me from a life of despair, hopelessness, tedium, etc. When I'm playing the piano or reading a novel I forget about overpopulation, traffic, lack of money, pollution. They're placed on back burner. Exercise also provides respite from worries.

Sheri Jean Hancock (via Facebook) - I have been the volunteer manager of a non-profit fine art printmaking organization for the past 6 years. It does not support me financially, but I have made many friends, seen so much creativity and talent, and helped artists realise their visions. That to me is priceless.

Marian Willmott (via Facebook) - Art supports me as a way of connecting to what is vital about being alive!

Carolyn Enz Hack (via Facebook) - Art supports a steady mental state, good outlook on life, and keeps me happy....oh yeah, and sometimes I sell paintings.

Jan Herder (via Facebook) -  Art supports me, but its time to liberate creativity and extend it to every occupation.

Nina Gaby (via Facebook) -  Don't know where I would be today without ART!

Andrew Weill - I am a studio glass blower. I have had my shop in Manchester for 10 years now. I teach glass blowing. I sell my own work and I repair the broken work of others.

Ruth Wallman (via Facebook) - I don't need a T-shirt - just letting you know that ART definitely supports my soul, if not the rest of me!

Sherridan Beyer - I have had this Need to create drawings , in the sand if nessisary for as long as I can recall.  In times of extreem loss, stress and sorrow Art has been my saving grace.  I paint and find great joy  sometimes giving away my paintings to people who could not afford art but love it. It keeps my soul fed .....Some times it has filled my being with money to eat. Having PTSD , art has saved me from despair and given me a reason to get up and move forward. I am a starving artist but my soul is satiated with creations.

Jennifer Barr - Art supports me by inspiring me to create drawings and paintings that connect me to the community.

David Griffin - Art supports me and I support the Arts. As an Arts organizer I've had the privilege of being involved the creation of the Art Hop the Firehouse Arts Center. The remembrance of this legacy supports my being in unmeasurable ways.

The opportunities and friendships I've experienced as an artist, graphic design and Arts advocate have made me a very fortunate person...and I'm very grateful.

Nan Hass Feldman (via Facebook) - I will be happy to write something as Art plays a role in everyday of my life. It is hard to say if Art Supports Me because I work very hard at it. I have painted and done mixed-media works mainly five days a week for 38 years and have taught in museums for 28 years and have taught in France and Italy since 1999. I ...have saved money over the years, besides paying for my art expenses, but that is because I am married to a wonderful man, a Poet, who has had a dependable job. If I had to support all my expenses (which are many in this art field), I would have probably gone back to full-time art teaching. But, making art is my joy and play, no matter how many things are going on in my life. Also, I appreciate Vermont because I got my MA at Goddard and my MFA at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Go Vermont!

Wendy Wells (via Facebook) - Art supports me and I support art by teaching ART to all the students in the Bethel Public Schools. Helping to create more artistic awareness every day.

David Speidel - "Art Supports Me" for the last 30 years as a graphic designer and illustrator. What's really most important to me is the education in the arts - visual, music and performing - my daughters received in our public schools and many independent programs here in Vermont. Both are succeeding in their chosen career paths. One is a working architect  and the other an environment/fine arts major in college. The music instruction, the after school arts programs and school plays all had a hand in forming them into creative thinkers able to contribute on many levels to the community.

Linda Eaton Marcille (via Facebook) - Art supports me in multiple ways. It supports me financially but more importantly it supports my body, mind and spirit.

For over a decade I have been battling a Lyme induced autoimmune disease. This disease has limited me in many ways, such as no longer being able to drive and only being able to attend social events on... a very limited basis. I would not be able to go out into the workforce to a job every day but I am able to work in my home studio, creating paintings on silk that nourish me and enrich my life. Creating art keeps me busy and distracts me from the pain and fatigue caused by my illness.

Art is what continues to give my life meaning on days when my illness feels overwhelming. Interacting with other artists on social networks like Facebook and through projects like "The Sketchbook Project" allow me to feel connected and to forge new friendships even though I don't get out much any more.

Robert DuGrenier - I have been working as a glass artist making sculpture in my Townshend studio for over 13 years. My latest works can be seen in a new Hotel opening up in Istanbul at the Divan Hotel in Jan 2011. I have created 6 large chandelier/sculptures for the Hotel. Happy to be able to do this work in Vermont. www.dugrenier.com

Carolyn Frisa - As an art conservator who specializes in works on paper, I am very lucky to be responsible for ensuring that works of art, ranging from very old (15th century) to contemporary, survive as close to their original state as possible for generations to come.

Libby Davidson - Parents who gave me big pieces of paper and encouraged me to make marks...the inviting smell of paint in my dad's studio...the first marks my own children made on big pieces of paper, and  continue to make in all shapes, forms and colors...having the courage to make marks myself because of words of encouragement along the way from other artists, teachers, arts organizations, friends and family.

Sally Gullion - Art makes me feel alive. Making art makes a day worthwhile. After work, art is relaxing. The cards I create have saved me hundreds over the years. Art makes appreciated, and very personal - gifts. Art is also a good way to recycle all sorts of stuff that would otherwise be trucked away somewhere. I can't imagine life without art.

Kathi Tarrant-Tafuto - I am a single mom/pro musician/teaching artist. Need I say more?!

Tanya Sousa - I've been a writer since I was old enough to hold a pencil or pen, and my writing and painting (on the side) have been an emotional support forever. What I created was integral to who I was; Also a source of great joy was looking through certain picture books when I was a child. I felt the joy well up inside in a way I can only describe as the feeling you get when you look at someone you're infatuated with. Now, I write magazine articles, write for anthologies, AND I write children's picture books (one of my books just won an award!). I am part of a publishing company that works with mainly new/undiscovered writers and illustrators from Vermont and gives them voice. It is a business and a lifestyle, and every time I look at the pages of one of my children's books or someone else's that I helped create, I get that same feeling that I did when I was a child myself looking at those amazing pages years ago -- I'm infatuated. The work that supports me and other gifted artists and writers connected with Radiant Hen may be seen at www.RadiantHen.com.

Anne Cummings - Art supports me financially, as teaching others the joy of art is my profession.  Unfortunately I lost an art colleague to budget cuts at my school this year.  Art also supports me emotionally, as it especially did this past summer when my husband experienced a serious illness and the many hours I spent at home were often filled with working in my studio, which was a tremendously necessary therapeutic release.  Art is who I am - I can't imagine my life without it.

Shanley Triggs - Creating a painting is a most challenging and joyful experience.  Art supports me somewhat monetarily but more importantly it is a source for true happiness.

Reanna May Huestis (via Facebook) -  I'm a poet and it doesn't support my lifestyle but it does give me inspiration and hope when I'm down that things will get better tomorrow I just have to hang in there:>

Kerin Rose (via Facebook) -  Art supports me because it is my livelihood! I have been a working artisan most of my life...I love that I can create jewelry to embellish so many gorgeous souls...I can use my hands and heart to amplify and support the inner beauty of others....like someone said before me...I cannot imagine living any other way!

Lawrence J. Nowlan (via Facebook) - I have been fortunate enough to have been commissioned by the folks at the University of Iowa to create some major projects on campus. Will be posting pictures next week of those piece along with my "Art Supports me" t-shirt!

Laura Quilligan - Art supports me financially as a fiberartist. It also supports me because it's human to human, hand made, in an artificial world that emphasizes mediocrity and conformism. Art challenges the rote and mundane..Art brings beauty into people's lives, and encourages peaceful civil dialog. Art is a necessity!

David Kraus (via Facebook) -  It's been 30 years now that I've made a living as a composer, guitarist, and private teacher. Sometimes I need to do a mental double-take....or more:) I can't imagine living any other way.

Bennett Shapiro (via Facebook) -  I have been doing a combination of live sound, recording music, acoustic design and consulting, and sound system installation full time for over 15 years now. I love being a kind of "translator" between the artists' sounds and the listeners. I also love all of the artistic freedom many of my clients afford me in effect...ing and enhancing their musics.

I especially enjoy when people come to me and ask me to help with their acoustic problems. Each problem is often a riddle with more than one answer. Though there are often multiple solutions to a particular issue, finding the ones that best suit each client is a big part of the pleasure of the work.

Steve Crafts - My business Place Creative Company is alive because of Vermont's creative economy.

John Morton - The arts give meaning to my existence and have created for me to give back to not only my community but my state.  I love being someone associated with the art of clogging. 

Jennifer Lenox - I am at artist who married a musician.  Not only does art support me, but art surrounds me.  From our three-year old son's drawings and finger paintings scattered around the house, to the saxophone students practicing scales in our living room, and the doodles that fill every margin of every page I touch... Art is, therefore I am.

Verandah Porche - A TOAST TO THE GOVERNOR'S INSTITUTE ON THE ARTS
               
Suave reverie, govern our hearts at sea or ease! 

Art is heaven's souvenir on unshorn earth:
a sonnet, tongue to ear, a tango in sheer air; a reason never to rein in our soaring toes, to shun a hug, or hogtie gusto. 

Art is an overture to groove on the universe.
It institutes the hour to gather strangers into the roost.
Teenage-genius-greenhorns urge on
tenant-nannies, nesting tutors, iron veterans.

Art is our oasis, thirst to trust: a shrine, so rare; the unseen reservoir that irrigates us.
Art is suet to the vireo, ether to insurgents:
It is the song no gunshot severs, no hearse rehearses.

Art is rough terrain to turn or hoe.
Granite, garnet, rhinestone shine in guano.
Serene as rain, the trees orate in vintage togas.
Root to turret, raise a theater in the roses.

Art unharnesses the neighing horses.
Hooves rove through the satin grass.
In a transient entourage, our alter-egos rush or saunter on the stage:

Air guitarist, Eve-as-egret, ghetto-geisha, hungover hussar, ingénue, nosher, ogre, ranter, savior, tooth-tattooist, unshaven usherette, virago-virtuoso.

Guise gives art
its see-through, sugar-in-vinegar varnish:
Enter...stir...astonish...
hesitate...then vanish.

Hunger is a sovereign ghost
gone ravenous in evening.
Snag a tangerine. Toss stars in a sieve.
Savor art at rest, together, gratis.

Priscilla Hughes - Art supports me in a way nothing else does.  It takes me to a place where I am focused, calmed, creative, free, peaceful and happy.  Rather it is my own art, or taking in the beauty of art created by others, art truly supports my happiness and being.  Art makes me feel whole.

Willow Bascom - Art has finally answered the question of what I want to be when I grow up. So I am supported by art in my very definition of myself. I am also making some income from my children's book and placing my art on clothing for both children and adults. My goal is not to make lots of bucks selling individual pieces but to create many items in a price range that is possible for many people to buy and enjoy my work.

Ellen Powell - I have made 90% of my living as a musician for 37 years, adding an income stream with photography for the last 4 years. The money could be better but I can't imagine doing or having done anything else.

Diana Dunn - Art helps me see the beauty in everything and gives me the strength to face the unexpected challenges of living.

Marisa Dipaola - as a public artist, art supports me. i have been living off of commissions from temporary outdoor sculptures & installations, allowing me to realize my dreams of being an artist & sharing with the world my bright outlook for a recycled future world.

Erin Paul - Art has always been one thing that has made me very happy, whether its crafting or examining. Art is result of the human being tapping into a sort of collective unconscious and finding greater truth and meaning in things. Its about hard work and amazing rewards.

Dianne Shullenberger - Art brings peacefulness to my life. It spiritually restores me when I see beauty in my environment and then can translate it in to my work. When stress invades my life, art encourages me to see the positive rather than the negative approaches to problems. Art makes me mindful of my responsibility for caring for our environment

Sheri Hancock - Art is an amazing tool for change, it is enlightening, empowering, and can relay messages that are otherwise lost in language.  

Marialisa Calta - In 1987, I attended the first season of Circus Smirkus and was blown away by the joy and enthusiasm the show projects. Over the years, Circus Smirkus has fed my hunger for laughter, imaginative play, and magic. Flash forward to 2008, when  I began my current job promoting  this amazing group. I believe Vermont is a happier place because of Circus Smirkus!

Also, as a resident of the town of Calais, VT for 25 years, the arts have played a huge role in our community's life. Artists, poets, writers, actors, filmmakers, and singers share their talents with us at local venues like the Maple Corner and Adamant Community Centers, The Old West Church, and the Unadilla Theater. The arts have enriched my and may family's life immeasurably.

Christine Fraioli (via Facebook) - Art - Food for the soul.

Susan Allen (via Facebook) - “A painted landscape is always more beautiful than a real one, because there's more there. Everything is more sensual, and one takes refuge in its beauty. And man needs spiritual expression and nourishing. It's why even in the prehistoric era, people would scrawl pictures of bison on the walls of caves. Man needs music..., literature, and painting-all those oases of perfection that make up art-to compensate for the rudeness and materialism of life.” -- Fernando Botero

Kathleen Berry Bergeron (via Facebook) - I have been a professional Artist and Instructor and Marketer for much of my life. I am passionate about painting and love to bring the Joy of artistic achievement to others. It has been a source of monetary gain but more importantly fulfillment in my life . We need to keep the arts in the forefront of are education be...cause quite often this will lead to greater accomplishments for are children in the future.

Lydia Busler-Blais (via Facebook) - I create. Sometimes I fear I create so much that it will consume me; I may not mind that consumption except that I'd rather share. I bake bread with my hands, compose music, improvise, photograph, etch, draw, paint, sculpt and build. I perform the music of others' minds, and I am a pedagogue. In my art, I illustrate the tangible webs of connection I see all around me, and through art, people hear and see what is otherwise sequestered to my mind and theirs to their own.

Brian Mooney (via Facebook) - Art supports me by helping me go places I can't otherwise go. Right now I'm inside an epileptic brain in Paul Harding's book "Tinkers."

Julianna Roen (via Facebook) -  Art supports me by giving me an outlet to express my feelings.

Shelah Horvitz (via Facebook) - Artists are the storm troops of social change. By appealing to emotions, they can open a crack for doubt. Once that crack is opened, anything is possible. However, as an artist, art does not support me at all. Art takes my money and the last of the energy left over from the day job. Art is something I do because I have to do it, and because it's my way of giving back. Art is a public service. Art is the only thing I do that matters.

James Volger - Art supports me.   Whether I'm working on a painting or forming a loaf of bread.. the creative energy is the same and reflects in all my work.

Louise Townsend - Art not only supports me it sustains me. It keeps my mind active and alive with creativity.

I am lucky to have an in home studio space to work and create from and look forward to growing my business.

Art supports me and sustains me. It keeps my mind active and I love the planning and creating process. I am blessed to have my own studio and a growing business.

Tom Stevens (via Facebook) - "Art is the proper task of life." -- Friedrich Nietzsche

Clair Dunn - I manage to get about one-week's worth of groceries a month. Usually. But, not always. Right now this is possible because I participate in the Northwest Farmers' Market in St. Albans and have my work hanging in the STAART Gallery. HOWEVER, the Market ends in October, and, unfortunately, STAART is closing permanently at the end of October. It will surely be the winter of my discontent. The large community of artists in the St. Albans area will once again be visually silent. We will continue to work, but each will be the tree falling in the forest with no one to hear. We won't be able to see the work of others and the vacuum will once again consume us all.

Ria Blass - I can tell how Art supports me....SURE  Not financially but as Art....
That's a little more complex to explain though.....and in our horizontal thinking society..the maturity that one gets after doing Art for 30/40 years is a vertical experience and a lot harder to explain -although worth it.  Art is special and goes deep deep deep..it's like birth.....like an oaktree with a tap root...

Katie O'Rourke - I am a painter and my husband is a musician.  Art supports us financially as well as emotionally.  We get to work it all out through our art.  Let go of the stress, express ourselves and get lost in our work.  Then we pass this on to our children who are three and five.   We see it and hear it in their art, it's a great way for them to communicate with us, with or without words.  They are like little sponges soaking it all up and then letting it shine.  What a beautiful thing!

Doug & Cheri Safford - Brings pleasure into the soul, provides us all with the attempt to create and use our creative feelings and abilities in all ways.

Laura Poirer - I feel so blessed to be teaching Art to school children at The Renaissance School in Shelburne, VT. Of course I love creating my own artwork, but I experience such great joy in helping some of our state's  youngest artists find their artistic voices each week. So I can honestly say that Art supports me in ways that nourish my creative, and financial resources! I was lucky enough to find a job that doesn't feel like a job - how great is that?

Natalie Gaines - Art supports me both in reality and metaphor! I learned at an early age that the practice of art is really possible when one begins to "see" differently. Because of this understanding, I followed the path of an artist, eventually earning a BFA with a concentration in painting and... after a struggle, became an art teacher at my local high school. There, art skills, and art language take on new meanings for me: as I teach, I learn, and as I teach art, I learn so much more about the vastness and depth of "seeing" differently while my artistic experience grows!

Rosemary Delia - Gets me through my days as I search for an elementary school Art Teacher job!!

Gerianne Smart - Art is infused in my every day, especially when I'm talking on the phone to a client, a reporter or a colleague. I am always looking for creative ways to solve a problem or overcome a challenge. This is creativity and it is an art form. When I am all "balled up" and needing "space" to think, or just relax, I find that looking at the natural beauty around me, the art of landscapes both natural and man-made, and listening to music, allows me to find a space to think clearer. Solutions just "pop" up. It is like magic. Art is magic.

Karyn Neubauer - Art supports my inner and outer life; I am honored to be a teaching artist. I now get to see the same spark in young adults that years ago made me want to follow this path.

The Arts at Main Street Landing are extremely important - whether it is our personal local art collection which is one of the largest in the State - or our three galleries.  We also have Performing Arts Center, and our mural work, and architecture on our buildings is based on art forms. Main Street Landing is all about art - from our architecture to our rotating visual arts exhibits.  Art defines a civilization - there isn't anything much more important.

Melinda Moulton, CEO/Redeveloper
Main Street Landing

Jennifer Elizabeth (via Facebook) - My family is full of artists.  I used to love spending time watching my brother doodle on napkins, and I would save them all.  I spent most of high school in the art department, I make a point of surrounding myself with music, and I have allowed my body to become a canvas of sorts.  Every year my Mom and I see a play in New York City.  My nieces and nephews artwork serves as wallpaper in my office, and I am always so happy to see the pride on their face when they visit me at work and see their art “on display”.  Art Supports Me in so many ways, and has always given me opportunities to share something special with some of the most important people in my life.

Susan McDowell (via Facebook) - Artists are amazing people who create amazing things necessary to the human experience. It nourishes my soul to be a part of this process in any way.
 

Jenevieve Johnson (via Facebook) - last year i bought a cafe in springfield vermont and just recently installed a hanging system and we had our first art show with a local artist! I really think it is working as therapy for my customers because it gives them a chance to take a moment from their busy day to enjoy something beautiful and take a quiet mom...ent to themselves. So in this little cafe...art is supporting sanity!!

Steve Giroux (via Facebook) - Thanks VAC for creating this page. Looks like ART supports a lot of people here in Vermont.

Check out this original video created by Steve, and inspired by Art Supports Me.  Thanks, Steve!

Reed Prescott (via Facebook) - Have been supported by the arts for the past 25 years through Painting, marketing, advocating for economic opportunities for the arts, coaching and giving workshops on how to make a living in the arts. Where would we be without the arts?

Creativity is the first step to innovation- Artist realize your value.

Jody Brown (via Facebook) - Art is like breathing, without it I would not be alive.

Natalie Gaines (via Facebook) - Art allows me to convey and learn life lessons in the most uniquely and universally understood ways.

Barbara Morrow (via Facebook) - The Arts Support Me by bringing new, young professional families to my artsy/culturally aware town. That's always a nice thing.

The arts support me by rearranging my brain wiring so I can think more creatively on the job, observe more keenly, and understand the symbolism in life. The arts support me on the job, even tho my job is not related to the arts. ART HELPS ME THINK.

David A. Russell (via Facebook) - Art supports me not only financially but keeps me seeking the good, the lovely, the beautiful in a world full of hatred, greed and violence. Art reminds me that there is so much beauty and good as well in the world.

Robert Waldo Brunelle Jr (via Facebook) I have made my living as an artist, cartoonist and art teacher for the last 30 years, so art literally supports me, as in, it pays my bills! Of course, it also makes my life bearable...

MRM from Dorset - For 40 years I taught music, flute, ensemble, counterpoint, in private and public schools, music schools, universities.  In fact I am compiling a book of programs for elementary school MUSIC FOR INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING.  As a composer I can't say that my compositions have supported me.  Awards from ASCAP performances by mainstream performers hardly qualify as remunerative. Some grants, commissions etc. but teaching was how I supported my family as a single parent.

Jackie Mangione (via Facebook) - I believe its role is what keeps society, culture and people thriving. My favorite quote is this one, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." I'm sorry I don't know who said that, I'll find out and post it. But, yeah, we need art to support us all.

It helps me understand and look at things that may be from a different perspective that I may not be aware of.  It serves to inspire me about life and its infinite mysteries.

Sonia Rae (via Facebook) -  Good art makes my heart race. It inspires me to push myself, work harder and get out of my comfort zone. The arts support me in so many ways!

Laurie Marechaux (via Facebook) - At a recent High School reunion I anxiously awaited the opportunity to speak with one of my many encouraging art teachers... to thank him for believing in me and my talents. Through this support and the push from my art teachers, to stay in the arts I have focused my working years to being an artist/craftsman. THANK A ...TEACHER TODAY. P.S. Don't break down in tears like I did when you approach your great supporter!

Lisa McCormick (via Facebook) -  Arts supports us, and we support art. Sweet symbiosis!

Alice Sciore (via Facebook) - Art Supports Me especially because of and in spite of the poor economy because it has made me become more seriously in touch with and aware of my art as a genuine power, ingredient, force that exists and motivates me.
It is not a function but a very natural food that nurtures. Because of art, I find myself reaching into... levels and areas I never could have achieved. These can be all the details major and minor needed to pursue and advance the meaning and existence of art for me, other artists and the public. I'm sure many artists have come to this ' awakening '. The support I receive is not a steady, monetary flow but rather now and then sales with the grand occasion of meeting extremely wonderful people who just suddenly materialize and commission me to create something challenging and hugely rewarding.

Donna Ellery (via Facebook) - Art Supports Me:Being an artist is that wonderful culminating blend of learning, persisting, experimenting and ever evolving between the ascribed gifts at birth and the achieved fulfillment over a lifetime of those gifts and talents. Born an artist, I could no more imagine not creating, than breathing. It just is. Even... though the present economy has many working artists of all mediums scrambling, I suspect that art will become an even more important outlet on a more personal level for many, myself included. Therefore, art supports me mentally, physically and spiritually.